Comments on: Harbaugh settles in: Calm, confident and fairly moderated (for him)http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2011/02/18/harbaugh-settles-in-calm-confident-and-fairly-moderated-for-him/
with Tim KawakamiWed, 06 Sep 2017 22:36:00 +0000hourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.2By: Smackalothttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2011/02/18/harbaugh-settles-in-calm-confident-and-fairly-moderated-for-him/comment-page-1/#comment-81999
Thu, 24 Feb 2011 22:14:32 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/?p=10447#comment-81999He’s not just saving the 49ers from the Mike Singletary doldrums. Don’t forget, when John York made that enormously stupid decision to fire Merriuci, he followed it up with an even bigger mistake – hiring Denis Erickson. The owners were terribly inexperienced, and Erickson absolutely scammed them into one last NFL coaching job; I will never forgive him Dennis for that.

While Nolan didn’t get the job done, he was almost set up to fail: Mike McCarthy was clearly using his position as a stepping stone, and Norv Turner left the Niners hanging out to dry in a classless late-off-season move. Who knows what history might have been if either of those guys had honored their commitments for just a little longer (or if management had made more ofman effort tomkeep them around).

When a change had to be made with Nolan, Singletary stepped in – and the players responded. But firing Martz turned out to be yet another hastily made mistake, born out of yet more inexperience. The offense has been pretty awful ever since, and the Niners had no chance.

I like the Harbaugh hiring because it seems like the Niners might have pulled off an ultimate bottling-of-lightning act that can solve all these problems at once. It IS his job to save the Niners, but not from Singletary, his job is to save them from themselves.

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Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:26:57 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/?p=10447#comment-81661This is the Peter principle in action. Harbaugh was the perfect college coach who was perfectly suited to coaching the college game at Stanford. He took reasonably smart, mediocre ex-NFL coordinators who took advantage of Stanford’s smart players to overwhelm the opposition through scheme. His Enthusiasm Unknown To Mankind works with 18 and 20 year olds, not so much with 25 and 30 year olds.

He’s getting the financial success he needs with this job, so from that perspective things will work out for Harbaugh. But think about it…he trades Manusky who was 13th in points allowed in the NFL for Vic who was 31st in points allowed in his last year as an NFL defensive coordinator. Fangio was solid in his first two years (8th and 9th in the league), then steadily got worse and worse as other teams learned to prep for his defenses. Roman’s no better than mediocre on offense, and they’re taking over a team that is one or more of the following – too slow, too hurt, too old, too little talent at every single position, and in particular at QB…where Harbaugh says Alex Smith has what it takes.

And Baallke will be no help, none at all, having been elevated by being friends with the boss. As a life time 49ers fan, I hope that Jed York grows up, some day, and hires non-mediocre pros. I’m sure he’s thinking that lightning will strike twice…take a great Stanford coach like Walsh, hire him at the 49ers and five Super Bowls will result.

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Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:42:36 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/?p=10447#comment-81538He seems to be a fan of the philosophy…”walk softly but carry a big stick” and i like that. Heard the guy this morning on KNBR and I have to say he has great karma, great attitude and I have been a fan of him since the time he played with the Colts on the AFC game against the Pats and almost won the game on a Hail Mary , he did take charge and with not much talent almost went to the SB. Great hire, I can’t wait ’til the season starts. As far as A Smith…I’ll just have to trust Jim, if he thinks he can do something with him, who knows , maybe he is also a miracle worker.
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Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:30:56 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/?p=10447#comment-81527Happy times from the furd to niner land, I guess. We’ll see.
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Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:25:27 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/?p=10447#comment-81525The difference between Singletary and Harbaugh: Let’s say you’re in a three-man poker game with them. Iron Mike announces he has a really good hand and beats his chest. But Jimbo just sits there glaring at you, saying much less… After a few hands it becomes clear that you have nothing to fear from the monster…but will be lucky to leave the room with your money, your watch and your car keys if you play the other guy long enough.

It seems to me that Jim Harbaugh was going to be a good head coach no matter where he worked his trade. More than anything, the 49ers are lucky he has already put down roots here in the bay area having worked down the freeway in Palo Alto. Unlike some of the faithful I have no doubts he is going to be successful here. For the first time since Mariucci was fired I have confidence in this organization. Go Niners!

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Fri, 18 Feb 2011 20:21:28 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/?p=10447#comment-81510I have a tremdous respect to Jim. His personality and competitive attitude would make him a great coach. It will be a fun to watch the continue battle between him and Pete Carroll at the next level next a few years.
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Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:36:43 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/?p=10447#comment-81507Seems like a very smart guy. The only thing that might hold back his success is personnel – let’s hope Baalke knows what he’s doing….
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